19-year-old charged with killing man in Minneapolis parking ramp, attempting to kill corrections officer in drive-by shooting at funeral

A 19-year-old has been charged in the death of a man found in a parking ramp in downtown Minneapolis earlier this month.

Christopher M. Todd has been charged in the killing of an acquaintance in a downtown Minneapolis parking ramp and later attempting to kill a corrections officer in a drive-by shooting at a funeral in the dead man’s car.

According to the criminal complaints, 21-year-old Ronald Junior Smith of St. Cloud was found dead on the lower level of a parking ramp located at 425 Seventh St. from a gunshot wound to the head at 6 p.m. on Aug. 14. Surveillance video showed Smith and an unidentified man in the parking ramp shortly before the murder.

On Aug. 20, Minneapolis and St. Paul police were interviewing a possible witness in a St. Paul murder when the Minneapolis investigator showed the witness a surveillance photo of the man in the parking ramp shooting. The witness said the unknown man was "Criddy," which is Todd’s street name, according to the complaint.

Man found dead in Minneapolis parking ramp, police investigating

The next day, while being questioned about a shooting that had just occurred at a funeral, investigators asked Todd if he knew anything about Smith’s murder. Todd denied knowing Smith but said he was sitting in Smith’s black Dodge Charger when another car entered the ramp and someone from that car shot Smith. Todd said that he was overcome by emotion following the shooting, pulled Smith from behind the steering wheel and onto the ramp floor then drove off in Smith’s car. Investigators determined that the murder could not have happened the way Todd described.

On Aug. 21, Todd and his brother, 23-year-old Zeontae Todd, met with 31-year-old Maurice June at a gas station. They asked June if he had a driver’s license, to which he replied, "yes," and they gave him the keys to the Charger and told him to drive all of them to a funeral at Hillside Cemetery in St. Anthony, according to the complaint.

At around 3:15 p.m., while at the cemetery, someone in the car thought he recognized a member of the Native Mob gang in a Jeep. June drove the Charger by the Jeep and Christopher Todd, who was in the front passenger seat, fired several shots at the Jeep. According to the complaint, the man in the Jeep was not a member of the Native Mob gang but a Minnesota Department of Corrections officer doing surveillance at the funeral.

The officer then chased the Charger, which crashed at Stinson Boulevard and 39th Avenue East. June and Zeontae Todd were quickly caught and arrested. A Minneapolis K-9 unit was used to track Christopher Todd to a nearby apartment building where he was apprehended. On the route the dog took, a semi-automatic handgun was found in the grass.

Christopher Todd has been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Smith and second-degree attempted murder by drive-by shooting. Zeontae Todd is charged with aiding an offender and Maurice June is charged with attempted second-degree murder by drive-by shooting.